Stamp-canceling and postmarking machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

M. V. B. ETHRIDGE. STAMP GANGELING AND POSTMARKING 111110111113.

No. 521,606. Patented June 19,1894.

(No Model'.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

.M. v. B. ETHRIDGE.

STAMP GANQELING AND POSTMARKING MACHINE.

No. 521,606. Patented June 19, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

MARTIN V. B. ETHRIDGE, OF EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THEAMERICAN POSTAL MACHINES COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

STAMP-CANQELING AND POSTMARKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 521,606, dated June 19,1894. Application filed February 18, 1891- Serial No- 381,883- (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN V. B. ETHRIDGE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Everett, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStamp-Canceling and Postmarking Machines; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full,clear, and ex act description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My present invention has reference to certain improvements in machinesfor stamp canceling and post marking letters, cards and other mailmatter, and delivering the same for sorting and distribution to themails by one continuous series of appropriate mechanical operations, andthe invention consists in novel andimproved means for transmitting theletters, cards or other pieces of mail matter along the moving carrierand delivering them to the printing rollers or marking and cancelingdevices.

The invention further consists in certain details in the construction,arrangement and combination of the several parts, substantially as willbe hereinafter described and claimed. I

In the annexed drawings illustrating my invention: Figure l is a topplan view of a portion of a stamp canceling machine provided with mypresent improvements. Fig. 2 is a partial front elevation of the same.Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of the carrying belt, together withthe friction rollers and flat spring arm which carries them and keepsthem constantly bearing upon said belt and revolving by the frictiontherewith, said rollers constituting a part of my present improvements.Fig. 4 is a detail view of the escapement which forms a part of thecounting mechanism. Fig. 5 is a partial rear elevation of the machineshowing the trip lever and parts of the mechanism operated thereby. Fig.6, is a partial bottom plan view.

Like letters of reference designate like parts throughout all thedifferent figures of the drawings.

The present improvements are designed for application and use with astamp canceling machine of the kindshown and described In the generalform of stamp-canceling machines to which the present improvements areapplicable there is a moving carrier or support for conveying theletters and other pieces of mail matter to the post marking andstamp-canceling mechanism, which moving carrier preferably comprises ashouldered belt or its equivalent situated vertically and passing aroundrollers which support and actuate it. With a belt of this kind the mailmatter is caused by gravity to assume an upright position on theshouldered edge. There is also a printing or marking roller or stampcanceling or postmarking cylinder, as it may be indifferently termedwhich has its face situated in close proximity to the moving belt anddirectly opposite to one of the band rollers which serves also as animpression roller. Either the printing roller or the impression rolleris yieldingly arranged so that one of them will have an oscillatory orvibratory motion while the other will have no motion except its ordinaryrotary motion. The oscillating roller is so held by suitable mechanicalappliances that when no letter is passing it will be out of contact withthe conveying belt and thus the conveying belt will not be soiled orotherwise defaced but when aletter does pass, the restraining actionupon the oscillating roller will cease to operate and the printingroller will occupy a position close enough to the belt to print the mailmatter which may be passing.

In the drawings C, designates the vertical belt having the shoulders c con its lower edge; C one of the supporting rollers for said belt whichroller serves also as the impression roller, E the printing roller ormarking device which is located directly opposite to the impressionroller C, G the inking roller suitably supported in convenient positionto bear upon the marking roller and distribute ink thereupon, F thecontrolling lever or releaser or tripper which projects into the letterpath and acts in conjunction .with each passing piece of mail matter,the lever being thereby depressed to cause the printing roller to assumethe position wherein it is operative to impress the registration,cancellation or post-mark upon the passing letter.

Adjacent to the roller G in Fig. 1, I have represented a shield G thepurpose of which is to cover and protect said roller as well as theother mechanical parts near it. It is unnecessary to describe the shieldat any length however.

0, c and 0 denote converging letter de' fleeting springs or guidesarranged to project from opposite sides of the letter hopper into theletter path eontiguously to the conveying belt, the ends of whichsprings are closed together as shown in Fig. 1. These springs act tolift the letter away from the belt and guide its forward end surelywithout regard to the thickness of the letter or other piece of mailmatter to a yielding timing lever d that is pivoted to a suitablesupportand provided witha springd' by which it is returned to itsobstruct.- ing position in the letter path after the letter has passed.Each piece of mail matter as it is carried forward by the belt isstopped by the contact of its forward end with the timing lever 01 andthe letter remains in this retarded position until the rotation of thetype or printing cylinder E has brought its type or canceling die nearlyto the point where the impression is to be made and then thetransmitting or gripping devices catch the letter, pull it forward,throwing the timing lever out of the way and delivering the letter tothe printing mechanism. In my former machines I have ordinarily employedwhat I have termed clamping feet, being devices connected to theprinting roller and projecting into the letter path and acting to catchthe letter and assist it past the timing lever. I now substitute howeverin lieu of the clamp devices, certain other devices operating toaccomplish the same result in adifferent way which devices I willpresently proceed to describe.

I have thus in ageneral manner delineated certain of the essentialelements of mechanism which may be found in the pending applicationhereinabove alluded to and it will be observed that I do not. intendherein to make any claim to these general combinations of mechanisms butonly to the special improved combinations which I will now proceed todescribe.

A A denote two horizontal friction rollers carried by their shaft awhich is supported in the end of the horizontal spring arm A which issecured at its other end by means of screws or other attaching devicesto the part B of the main frame of the machine. These friction rollers AA of which obviously there may be any number, one, two or more, as thecase may be are located at a point between the timing lever d and theprinting mechanism and they are kept constantly in contact with thevertical face of the belt 0 and revolve by the friction of said beltagainst them. In Fig. 3 I have represented these frictional rollers A inside elevation as they appear against the belt 0 and carried by theirsupporting arm A, said arm being simply a flat spring the tension ofwhich keeps the rollers against the belt C, and in Fig. l the rollers Aare seen in plan view.

I designates a horizontal lever which is pivoted at J to a fixed part ofthe main frame B. The free end of lever I is situated above the printingroller E and is provided prefer ably with a pin or roller which rests incontact with the periphery of the cam 0 carried on the shaft of theprinting roller E. Springs P P are connected to the upper and lowersides of lever I as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and they are also connectedto points on the stationary main frame and they act to pull the levernormally toward the main frame and thus to keep the free end of thelever I in contact with the cam 0. As the earn 0 retates obviously thelever I will be moved or oscillated. The lever I is slotted or otherwisesuitably shaped to permit another horizontal lever K to be pivotedtherein at some suitable point as L. A spring M is secured to lever Iand bears firmly against the lever arm K, said spring being simply aflat spring and acting to push the lever K in the direction of the belt0. Said leverK is keptfrom going too far inward toward the belt by meansof a stop K formed in the lever I. This step K acts as a positive meansfor withdrawing the roller carried by lever from the belt when the leverI is moved outward.

N N denote two loose wheels carried by the shaft 11. which is supportedin the end of the lever K. These wheels N are adapted to come intocontact with the carrying or conveying belt 0. At each revolution of thecam O the springs P P will cause the lever I to move sufficiently fartoward the belt 0 to carry the lever K and the wheels N near enough tobelt 0 so that said wheels N will be clamped upon the belt. The flatspring M by bearing upon the lever arm K permits the loose wheels N tohave a yielding movement for different thicknesses of letters which maypass between them and the belt, while the leverI which carries arm K hasa positive motion consequent upon the action upon the end thereof of thecam O.

In Fig. A I have represented an escapement device which forms a part ofthe counting attachment. In Fig. 1 the counter is shown as consisting ofthe dial faces R, R R R R, R It is unnecessary to explain the detailedconstruction of this counting or registering apparatus inasmuch as itmay be of any suitable and usual construction having a sufficient numberof dials or pointers to permit the indication thereon of the number ofpieces of mail matter which pass through the machine.

ICC

The .escapement consists of the usual toothed lever S' which is pivotedadjacent to dial R and has its teeth workin g in a ratchet, locatedbeneath the dial, while aspring sbears upon the lever S. Said lever S isslotted to receive a pin 25 carried by a lever T which is bent through astud D and has its end resting against the tripper or releaser F whichis located in the letter path. When the tripper is thrown down ordeflectedfrom the letter path by the passing of a letter, card,newspaper or other piece of mail matter, the wire rod or arm T isvibrated and the escapement operates, the lever S engaging one tooth ofthe ratchet and imparting thereto the fraction of a rotation sufficientto mark one on the dial. This movement continues so long as the stampcanceling machine is in operation and the passage of a letter or otherpiece of mail matter is accordingly registered by the counter.

Pivoted to shaft Jand controlled by means of spring E is the oscillatingarm E, carrying at its opposite end the printing roller E. This arm E inits normal position is held out of contact with the revolving band C bymeans of the arm Il, pivoted at H and connected by the link 11. with thetrip leverF. Thus it will be seen that upon the passage of a piece ofmail matter along the trip lever F and the consequent inward pressure onthe same, the

arm H is caused to move forward in the direction of the printing rollerE, a distance sufficient to encounter the notch e in the oscillating armE and to allow the roller at tached thereto to be brought in contactwith the letter or other matter to be post-marked. As soon as the piecehas been marked and has passed from the trip lever F, the arm H, bymeans of spring E is caused to fly back and thereby tolraise the arm Eand cause the roller to assume its normal position. The

backward movement of the arm H is checked by the pin or lugfprojectingfrom the upper side of arm E.

I will now proceed to describe the operation of my'present improvementsas applied to a stamp-canceling or post marking machine. When a letterpasses between the lifting springs c and the adjacent springs c c andadvances its forward end against the timing lever or stop 01, it willremain there until the two loose wheels N N are brought down thereuponby the action of the two spiral springs P l? in drawing upon the lever 1whenever the low point of the cam 0 comes opposite the free end of saidleverI which operation takes place just immediately before the stampcanceling and post marking dies reach the point where they are ready toimprint their regis-' try upon the passing letter. The letter nowpassing is forced down by the loose wheels N N on to the carrying beltwhich belt immediately forwards the letter under the friction rollers AA before the two loose wheels can become lifted oi the letter by therevolution of the cam O which acts to vibrate the lever I.

Said friction rollers A A in thus bearing yieldingly upon the lettercause it to be transmitted with a fixed positive delivery between theprinting and impression rolls and they assist therefore very materiallythe letter in working the trip lever F, performing in this waysubstantially the same function as is performed in certain other of mymachines by means .of the pivoted clamping feet which are carried by theprinting roller. The letter being now between the printing andimpression rollers with the stamp canceling dies at the proper point toprint, the stamps will be canceled and the post-marks imprinted and theletter will then be carried forwardvout of the machine.

Referring again to the trip lever F which acts as a releaser orcontroller operating upon mechanism beneath so as to cause the printingroller to assume its printing position, it will be noted that said leverF is pivoted in a chair f formed in the main frame .and is connectedwith a supporting post H by means of a rod a which is loosely pivoted atboth ends, that is to say at one end to alug on the post H and at theother end to a lugor projection on the lever F, said trip F andsupporting post being held in direct position by means of the tension ofthespringVasshown in Fig. 1. The supporting post H, operates to hold theprinting roller out of printing position at certain times. Said postvibrates whenever the trip lever F in the letter path vibratesconsequent upon the passage of a letter which moves it. When the post His thrown out from contact with the frame carrying the printing roller,then the printing roller is allowed to assume such aposition as that itmay register its impression upon the passing letter.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a stamp-canceling and post-marking machine, the combination withtheletter-con- Veying belt, a tripper in the letter-path and the timingstop in the letter-path, of means for causing the letter to pass thetiming stop, a friction roller or rollers supported in the end of thespring arm, whose other end is supported by the main frame of themachine, said friction roller or rollers being kept constantly incontact with the vertical surface of the letter-conveying belt,substantially as described.

2. In a stamp canceling and post marking machine, the combination of theletter-conveying belt, the impression and printing rollers, a releaseror tripper in the letter-path, a timing lever a friction roller or rollscarried by a spring arm whose other end is secured to the main frame ofthe machine, said friction roll or rolls being located at a pointbetween the timing lever and the printing mechanism and kept constantlyin contact with the vertical face of the letter-conveying belt andanother friction Wheel or wheels supported in a vibrating frame togetherwith a cam on the printing roller shaft, which acts in conjunction withthe said frame, substantially as described.

3. In a stamp-canceling and post-marking machine, the combination withthe letter-conveying belt, a tripper in the letter-path and a timingstop in the letter-path, of the printing mechanism, a friction roll orrolls carried by a spring arm and adapted to bear frictionally upon theletter-belt at a point near the timing and trip levers and means forcausing the letter to pass the timing stop, substantially as described.

4. In a stamp canceling and post marking machine, the combination of aletter conveying device, a printing roller and an impression roller, atiming lever in the letter path and also a tripper in the letter pathwhich releases the printing roller and a wheel or wheels supportedyieldingly in a rocker frame or arm, together with a cam on the printingroller shaft operating in conjunction with said arm to cause said wheelor wheels to be brought temporarily in contact with a passing letter,substantially as described.

5. The combination in a stamp-canceling machine, of the letter-belt, theimpression roller, a printing roll, a timing stop, a cam on the shaft ofthe printing roll, a lever pivoted to the main frame and having its freeend in contact with the periphery of said cam, and

a loose wheel or wheels carried by said lever adapted to be in contactwith the letter belt at certain times, substantially as described.

6. The combination of a letter conveying belt, a printing roller and animpression roller, the timing stop in the letter path and also a tripperin the letter path, a friction roller or rollers A A carried by a springarm A and bearing against the letter belt, an arm or frame I pivoted atJ to the main frame and having its end operated upon by the cam 0 on theprinting roller shaft, the arm K pivoted in the lever I and the wheels NN supported in the arms K, all operating, substantially as described.

7. The combination with the letter-conveying belt, the printing andimpression rolls, of the arm I pivoted to the main frame, the cam 0 uponthe printing roller shaft and operating against the end of arm I, thearm K pivoted in arm I the wheels N N supported in the end of the leverK and the springs P P connected to the lever I and also to the mainframe and the timing stop in the letter-path, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN V. B. ETIIR-IDGE.

Witnesses:

OHAs. HALL ADAMS, G. W. TROWBRIDGE.

